The four mercenaries chatted amongst themselves for the next few minutes, recounting long-winded jokes and tales of grand heroism, exaggerated drama, and blithering idiocy that they had heard or been a part of since becoming a hired blade. Daphne had heard most of the tales before, particularly those that were told by Ake, many of which were identical to the ones he had told not ten minutes ago but had repeated for the sake of the newcomer. With a fresh face in the group she expected to hear a few new ones that might surprise her, but she was sure that the two dwarf brothers had spoiled her interest in these stories since she met them and tried to not put too much faith in him. [i]One gains a tolerance for listening to the same thing over and over again, I suppose[/i], Daphne thought, twiddling her thumbs in her lap having finished gorging herself on bread and meat.

“Gravespeaker,” said a voice, interrupting their conversation just as Asmund was about to deliver the punchline to a joke that had carried on for far too long. The dwarf groaned, the moment gone and his joke ruined by the disruption, and sunk back into his seat in a huff with his arms folded almost childishly.

“I don’t get it,” said Ake, looking confused and scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Daphne looked up to the man and furrowed her brow. Iano, dragging his friend Lin by the hand half way down the mess hall, stood above the group of four and scowled at them, focusing most of his attention on Daphne and later the other newcomer, Mozan. Daphne’s eyes never left Iano’s figure though, examining the tindra male inquisitively. He was a strange looking man who wore brightly coloured clothes and further decorated himself with face paint, with deep red hair and eyes that were not uncommon for his people. His build was lithe and his features soft, but that only made Daphne feel wary of him. Looks could be deceiving, and the small assortment of blades sheathed on the man’s belt only confirmed that for her. Iano was dangerous.

“It’s no problem, I’m sure,” Daphne said through gritted teeth, responding to Iano’s apparent disapproval of her powers as civilly as she could. She motioned to the spare chair by their table, suggesting that he should join them. “Please. Sit. We’re just spinning each other a few tales to help pass the time,” she said, closing her eyes and resting comfortably against her chair.

“Asmund here was just telling us a joke,” she added, and the dwarf grunted in response.